THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



X65 



anda little bromine vapour is then poured 

 into it. After shaking, the water should 

 be perceptibly tinted and should give a 

 blue coloration when dropped on iodide 

 and starch paper. One drop of a strong 

 solution of caustic soda is now added and 

 the bottle again shaken and placed on 

 one side for ten minutes. Finally one or 

 two drops of a solution of potassium 

 iodide are added, and the water will then 

 be found to be free from ammonia and 

 suitable for Nesslerising purposes. — Jour\ 

 S. C. I. 



INSECTS ATTACKING DRUGS. 



By Prof. L. E. Sayre. 



Some three years ago certain members 

 of our Association* asked me to take up 

 the subject of insects injurious to drugs, 

 and for two consecutive years I have read 

 papers upon it, presenting the names and 

 descriptions, with illustration, of the va- 

 rious insects found upon drugs obtained 

 not only from the store room of the 

 Pharmacy School, but drugs obtained 

 from different sections of the country. It 

 may be said that during this investiga- 

 tion drugs infested with insects were, at 

 my request, sent to me from all parts of 

 the United States. A synopsis of this 

 work was published in the American 

 Journal of Pharmacy, Vol. xxiii, pp. 

 321-329. 



The Secretary of this Association asked 

 me to continue this subject and make a 

 report giving any additional information 

 which might be obtained from further 

 investigation. Acting upon this sug- 

 gestion, considerable time was set apart 

 from regular work for the purpose of ex- 

 amining the drugs of the store room. 

 Each individual drug was taken from its 

 container and various particles were 

 closely examined by the aid of the lens 



*Read at the May meeting of the Kansas Pharmaceu- 

 tical Association. 



to ascertain whether any insects or lar- 

 vae were secreting themselves in the tis- 

 sues, The drugs examined were those 

 kept in rather loose containers for the 

 practical purposes of the microscopical 

 and pharmaceutical laboratories. Those 

 drugs kept in glass cases and in glass 

 containers, which are used for the espec- 

 ial purpose of lecture illustration, were 

 not examined. The result of the exami- 

 nation may be stated briefly by giving, 

 first, a list of the drugs infested and the 

 insects found upon them, and second, a 

 list of the drugs upon which no insects 

 were found. f 



Insects found in Different Drugs: 

 Lasioderma serricorne, in : 



Aurantii dulcis cortex; br)'onia. 

 Sitrodrepa panicea, in: 



Aconitum; aspidium; coriander; semen 

 ffeniculi; ipecacuanha; triticum. 

 Bruchidffi, one species (one specimen), in: 



Coriander. 

 Lathridius filiformis, in : 



Absinthium; asclepias; aspidium, bel- 

 ladonna folia; belladonna radix; bry- 

 onia; ergota; limonis cortex; ulmus; 

 zingiber, (unlimed. ) 

 A species of coleoptera "probably exotic 

 and not yet recognized by any specific name in 

 this country." (L. O. Howard), in: 



Absinthium; althaea; apocynum; arni- 

 C£e radix; asclepias; aspidosperma; au- 

 rantii amara cortex; aurantii dulcis 

 cortex; belladonna folia; belladonna 

 radix; bryonia; buchu (long); colocyn- 

 this; cypripedium; dulcamara; eriodic- 

 tyon; ergota; eucalyptus; euonymus; 

 glycyrrhiza; humulus; hydrastis; jal- 

 apa; lappa; pej)o; podophyllum; phy- 

 tolaccte radix; quillaja; sassafras me- 

 dulla; triticum; ulmus; zingiber (un- 

 limed. ) 

 Those who have familiarized themselves with 

 the previous work upon this subject will see 

 that there are here mentioned two, if not three, 

 new species, namely, lathridius filiformis (Fig. 

 2), an insect resembling this very much, but 

 differing from it somewhat (as seen in Fig. i), 

 and a species of unnamed coleoptera. Numbers 

 I and 2, named by L. O. Howard as lathridius 

 filiformis, appear to differ in the structure of 

 the elytra and the form of the thorax. Of No. 



